Is it normal

My male is currently sitting on 100+ eggs. Last night I noticed a few
Egg shells floating around and then this morning saw nice yellow
Eggs with heads and tails escaping from the cave. Firstly Is this normal
for some to escape at this point and secondly would it be ok to leave them
as there is nothing in the tank but dad and the eggs.
On previous batches all the babies have stayed in the cave till dad let them out.

sometimes a few sneak past. totally normal

i'd leave them

as long as there is strong current & somewhere for them to grab on to & not get squashed between shifting gravel, you should be ok

I have a small net and a syringe with a piece of flexi air tube that i use to "catch" my escapees now. I put the net right behind them & then squirt them with the syringe & tube to "direct" them into the net

Has worked really well for my 6 escapees now

the last batch of babies I had hatched I didnt realize my female had layed her eggs already and was doing a water clean and change and ended up with all their eggs floating around in the bottom of the tank they all hatched and they never even stayed in the cave at all.

I have also had loose eggs fall out of the cave when I was giving my breeding pair of commons to a friend... they got lost in the gravel but still hatched and are doing well... in fact am going to breed them with my LF albinos within the next few months.